Judges are sentencing people who are convicted of child pornography charges to little or no jail time.

Hard drives are just some of the evidence recently seized by Homeland Security investigators who are using cutting edge computer forensics in their on-line hunt for sexual predators.

“A lot of the suspects we come across have a tremendous amount of video,” one unidentified agent told Team 5 Investigates’ Kathy Curran.

As a result, there’s been a spike in child pornography arrests that Homeland Security Special Agent Bruce Foucart calls a frightening epidemic.

“They’re taking away the innocence of children and it should be taken seriously by everyone. There have been studies done where the people who are downloading and viewing it themselves are actual abusers,” said Foucart.

Team 5 Investigates reviewed sentencing data for child pornography cases across Massachusetts. The investigation found some federal judges handing out little or no jail time to those convicted of the crime. Over the last three years, Team 5 discovered a 40-percent decline in jail time.

“It’s frustrating, but I also respect the role of the court and what the court has to do,” said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

Last year, Steven Saunders, formerly of Groton, pled guilty to possessing more than 180 images of child porn, including images showing infants and toddlers being sexually abused.

Records show Saunders also admitted he wanted to have children of his own in order to engage in sexual activity with them and have them engage in sexual contact with each another.

The government asked for a four-year jail sentence. Instead, Judge Douglas Woodlock sentenced him to time served: six days in prison, followed by ten years of strict supervised release, requiring him to register as a sex offender.

“Do you think that was appropriate?” asked Team 5 Investigates’ Curran.

“No, I disagreed with that sentence. I was very, very troubled by the outcome in that case,” answered Ortiz.

“What troubled you most about that case?” asked Curran.

“Here was an individual that indicated his intent, his interest in having children so that he could sexually abuse them,” said Ortiz.

Judge Woodlock told Team 5 Investigates’ it’s his policy not to comment on cases outside the courtroom. At sentencing however, he cited the fact that Saunders had no criminal background and had gotten on with his life in a positive way with a marriage and a child.

“Mr. Saunders went through a very intense evaluation and Mr. Saunders is not attracted to children. He’s not a pedophile. I don’t think any reasonable person looking at what happened to him would say he has not been punished,” said Page Kelley, Saunders’ attorney.

Retired judge Nancy Gertner told Team 5 Investigates the real problem lies with the sentencing guidelines for punishment which she believes are too harsh.

“The issue is proportionality, what is the appropriate sentence for this one person? Will ten years of monitoring and sex offender registry keep this guy from ever going near that site on the internet again? Gee, I have no doubt the answer to that is yes,” said Gertner.

Paul Teves, a former West Bridgewater High School teacher and track coach also pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

Court records show he went on line and portrayed himself as a mother willing to “pimp out” her 11-year old daughter. Investigators found more than a hundred images and dozens of videos in his possession.

Prosecutors recommended the former teacher of the year spend five years behind bars, but Judge Joseph Tauro sentenced Teves to five years of probation, the first six months to be served in home confinement.

In his statement of reasons, Tauro stated that he wanted to “avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities” with those convicted of similar crimes.

“The Massachusetts trend to depart from these guidelines is nationwide and in fact it’s so serious that the sentencing commission is a month away, which we expect will say, these guidelines are wrong and the sentences should be lower,” said Gertner. “Judges across the country have been saying these sentences need to be lower.”

“The perception that this is not really severe or harmful kind of conduct is just a misunderstanding or uneducated perception,” said Ortiz.

The US Attorney told Team 5 Investigates she didn’t appeal the sentences in either case because given the narrow basis upon which a sentence can be overturned; her office did not believe they’d be successful.

Ortiz said the issue here is not about appeals, but rather, it is about the judiciary having a fundamental understanding of the violent nature of these crimes and the significant public safety risk these defendants pose.

Both judges declined Team 5’s request for interviews, as did Paul Teves and his attorney.

Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzkokhar Tsarnaev rested their case in his federal death penalty trial Tuesday after presenting a brief case aimed at showing his late older brother was the mastermind of the 2013 terror attack.